In this story
Of all the games I’ve played this year, Children of the Sun is by far the most hostile. This trippy shooter follows the girl, a survivor of the cult’s abuse, as she seeks revenge on them and the leader. Yes, those terms are all capitalized correctly, Children of the Sun sees fit to give these characters the proper noun treatment, as if building authoritarian institutions out of them, leaving each character vague enough to allow the player to replace each real name and person with the game’s simplified analogue of institutional violence. The girl could be any number of survivors who were unfortunately at the behest of many cults and/or leaders.
Children of the Sun Then he takes it a step further and gives her the tools to fight the cult and take revenge on the leader who put her through hell. He equips the girl with a rifle and gives her the power to direct her bullets with her mind. From then on, it’s hunting season as she dismantles the cult with headshot, explosive barrel, and flame-touched bullet after headshot. Children of the Sun
Children of the Sun has a single real Mechanics: Sharpshooting. As the girl enters each of the game’s levels, often done in garish but vibrant purples and reds, she moves at the whim of your mouse, allowing you to position her tactically. After finding the right spot, she aims through her scope and can spot the cult’s grunts by their bright yellow glow, after which you can rip a new bullet into their face. Each mission effectively awards her a bullet that she can use to take out multiple targets, whose positions can be scouted and marked in advance.
The girl only manages So She uses her firepower sparingly, thanks to her telekinetic abilities that allow her to accelerate the bullet to penetrate armor and bend its trajectory. But first of all, you can only redirect the bullet if you kill an enemy instantly. That’s right, the brain matter will still fly through the air while Children of the Sun
In that sense, it’s more of a puzzle game than a simple shooter game. It pays to be precise and execute these acts of revenge as quickly as possible, as every kill, for example, counts. Levels feature additional optional challenges that encourage the use of other features, such as ravens and sea creatures that can be killed to gain a vantage point or unexpected angle on targets. Certain body parts of certain enemies glow bright white, and hitting those spots grants you psychic charges that can eventually be used to slow down time and redirect the bullet entirely. At the end of each level, a map shows the bullet’s trajectory and ranks you on a leaderboard, prompting you to improve your game and become even better gruesome
Children of the SunMissions start off fairly simple, but become intimidating and psychedelic murder puzzles over time. Initially, some enemies might sit around a small campfire they’ve built in the woods, but later levels take place on either side of a small town’s main thoroughfare, where your bullets bounce between the heads of enemies at different heights in different buildings at different ends of the street. Two of my favorite missions are also two of the most ambitious (and frustrating) parts of the game – one level is set in the middle of a chase and another in an imposing apartment block – but when it all comes together, Children of the Sun is unparalleled in its biting and cathartic violence. Finally, the ugly, cinematic and tightly directed revenge thriller that games deserve.
Children of the Sun is a Moodnot least because of the use of dark tones which paint a completely stark picture. Through and through it is just raw and unashamed in its condemnation of abuse and the girl’s subsequent punishment of the bad guys. It is a little longer than necessary and may prove a little uncomfortable for some in tone and style, but for $10 you get one of the most daring titles of the year and you should be hard-pressed to read it.
